Don't miss the truth about the County Council

Please scroll down to the blog after the next one to learn the truth about what is really happening in Hampshire.  DON'T BELIEVE what the LibDems are putting out in their pseudo newspaper.

Banner ads across blog control panel pages

I'm seriously thinking of relocating this blog wiht Wordpress because of the annoying banner ads I get across half the screen on the stats/control panel pages.  I copied the ad and this is how it came out:

http://chart.googleapis.com/chart?chf=bg,s,FFFFFF00&chxl=1:|05%2F10%2F2012|07%2F10%2F2012|09%2F10%2F2012|11%2F10%2F2012|12%2F10%2F2012&chxp=0,5,10|1,0,25,50,75,100&chxr=0,0,10&chxs=0,676767,11.5,0,t,676767|1,6AA9E6,12,0,l,676767&chxt=y,x&chs=416x180&cht=lc&chco=6AA9E6&chd=s:GrrYSMAAAAAGAAAYlAAAAAGAAAYAAAAAAAAAGAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGAAAAAAAAAAAAMlAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMGMAAAAAAGxAGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASGAAMAYAAGAAAAAAAAAAAAGAAG&chls=3&chm=B,6AA9E664,0,0,0|h,E7E7E7,0,0.5,1,-1|h,AAAAAA,0,0,1,1|h,AAAAAA,0,1,1,1|V,E7E7E7,0,0,1,-1|V,E7E7E7,0,42,1,-1|V,E7E7E7,0,84,1,-1|V,E7E7E7,0,126,1,-1|V,E7E7E7,0,168,1,-1

I don't know whether it's permitted by Google or whether my computer's picked up a bug, but they're ordinary advertisements and are really annoying and just found on those pages.

The Truth About the County Council

With a County Council election looming and their popularity plummeting Lib Dems have launched their usual negative campaign to scare people into voting for them and to paint an ugly  picture of the Conservative run County Council that they would like electors to believe.

They want people to think that, because the Council has to cope with funding cuts in a time of rising inflation, it is going to cut the services needed by local people - but nothing could be further from the truth.

Their claim that we are cutting back on Children's Centres is completely untrue. All 81 centres are open and are now delivering the additional service of speech and language therapy for children with special needs.

 With a County Council election looming and their popularity plummeting Lib Dems have launched their usual negative campaign to scare people into voting for them and to paint an ugly  picture of the Conservative run County Council that they would like electors to believe.

They want people to think that, because the Council has to cope with funding cuts in a time of rising inflation, it is going to cut the services needed by local people - but nothing could be further from the truth.

Their claim that we are cutting back on Children's Centres is completely untrue. All 81 centres are open and are now delivering the additional service of speech and language therapy for children with special needs.

So is their claim that there will not be enough school places for Hampshire’s children. No child in Hampshire will be without a place in any one of Hampshire’s excellent schools that are acclaimed for achieving above average results. Not only that, but we are also providing funding for more apprenticeships to improve the life chances of our unemployed young people.

Because of the efficiencies we have made in reducing our running costs, we have been able to increase service budgets to care for vulnerable adults and children by an extra £14 million this year to cope with the rising numbers needing our care. Also we are setting aside £45 million to fund the building of over 500 extra care units to cater for our ageing population.

We are spending more money on bus services than the districts and Boroughs had to spend and having repaired the 30,000 potholes caused by severe weather conditions we are now rolling out a multi- million programme over 5 years to make them resistant to further such damage.

Unlike other Counties, all our Museums and Libraries are not only open but improving the range of services they provide.

Their claim that we are reducing the number of Police Officers is also wrong. Not only do we have no control of the police or its staffing but we also understand that the Police have no plans to cut the number of officers.

Lib Dems deplore our new initiative to use unspent funding from Councillors’ own budgets to broadcast, on our website, our Cabinet and Council debates that allows the Public to see how their taxes are being used.

Perhaps Lib Dems fear it will show to the public their ineptitude in debate and reveal how wrong is their description of the County Council they portray in the leaflets they push through people’s letter-boxes.

Hampshire County Council Web Streaming

Yet again the Liberal Democrats have been very economical with the truth.

This time it concerns live streaming of Hampshire County Council meetings.  They accuse the Council of  wasting £220,000 on streaming council meetings, but the facts are very different, as explained by Conservative County Councillor Colin Davidovitz:

"Liberal Democrats have consistently fought against the County Council’s initiative in broadcasting its Cabinet and Full Council decision making processes that allow local residents to actually see and hear what, how and why decisions are being made on their behalf.

"Conservatives are not afraid of people watching them discussing and debating the policies they are making to cope with demanding situations, support and improve services and to protect the wellbeing of the people they have been elected to serve.

"In fact, this was only made possible because Conservative Councillors voted to allow the unspent sums in their personal budgets to be diverted to fund this initiative that allows local taxpayers to witness the decision making process that has a direct effect on their lives, with out any call on funds from the Council Tax payer.

"Up to now if they wanted to see what went on at these meetings, residents had to travel miles to do so and probably  take time off work. Now if they are not able to see the live broadcast of a meeting they want to see or have read about in a newspaper or pamphlet, they have the opportunity to replay it from the internet at any time to suit  themselves in their own homes.

"One can only assume that Liberal Democrats are scared of what residents’ reactions might be when they are actually able to see their own pathetic performances and the weakness of their contributions in the Council’s debating chambers. They obviously would prefer that residents were kept in the dark, without access to evidence that would enable them to question the allegations and misrepresentations about the County Council that always dominates the propaganda leaflets Lib Dems continually thrust through residents’ letter boxes."

Residents can watch council proceedings at any time

The Liberal Democrats have manipulated the figures to make it look as if only 57 people, the ones who watched  live on their computers, have seen the July Council Meeting, but as Cllr Davidovitz has explained, we can watch the meetings at any time.  Figures for the January meeting show that in fact over 800 people watched it.  That is a far higher figure than would ever have gone to see the meeting at the council offices.

To watch Hampshire County Council Webcasts visit www.hants.gov.uk/watch

Protect Our Countryside - Hypocrisy

 Threatened land:

Liberal Democrat Mayor Rupert Kyrle is demanding that the council should protect our countryside. And this after presiding over a Council meeting on 1st August when it was agreed to build 9,400 houses on green spaces including strategic gap.  What hypocrisy!

I

20 is Plenty??

Eastleigh’s Liberal Democrat council has passed a motion to impose a permanent 20 mph speed limit “in priority roads around our schools,” and wonders why it hasn’t been rubber-stamped by Conservative-run Hampshire County Council.

The reason is that there are very stiff criteria for imposing 20 mph zones.  They need to be self-enforcing, thus requiring minimal police attention, so traffic calming measures have to be applied.  And these will normally consist of speed humps and pinch points, as speed limit repeater signs aren’t used within a zone.

For this reason, they aren’t usually suitable for main roads with high traffic volumes or strategic routes.  Vehicles travelling at 20 mph can significantly increase vehicle emissions and add to traffic congestion. 

The HCC website says that under current legislation any speed limit has to apply at all times, so it’s “usually unsuitable beyond the school arrival or departure times, when traffic is not delayed by the school activities, therefore not forced to slow down.”   Due to congestion around most school gates, however, it is very unusual for traffic to be able to do much more than 20mph, so any measures to reduce the speed limit would be completely redundant.

But the Conservatives have a better way.  In respect of schools situated on main roads, a 20 mph speed limit could be imposed when school patrol warning lights are flashing, thus avoiding the need for costly and disruptive traffic calming measures. 

However, neither council can impose the limit demanded by the Borough councillors, so it would require national legislation and it would only apply to schools where a demonstrable need could be shown.

20 mph zones with the requisite traffic calming would cost between £7,000 and £12,500 each, whereas flashing amber warning lights and signs would cost a mere £2,700.  A school crossing patrol zone would cost about an additional £1,800 per annum for salary and £260 for uniform and sign.

But there is yet another cheaper and more effective solution.  Hampshire County Council already has three portable flashing speed limit signs, which are placed for a limited time outside places like schools.  These are much more effective than permanent signs, which tend to be ignored, as they are unexpected, and cost £3,000. 

So our LibDem councillors once again haven't thought the policy through but fortunately we have a Conservative County Council.

Lib Dems at it again

Conservative County Councillor Colin Davidovitz has put out the following announcement following the shameful accusations in the LibDem Voice newspaper:

Lib Dems are at it again. First they tried to scare the life out of young Mums by telling them that their valued Children Centres were closing down, when every one of the 81 centres across the County is open for business and delivering even more services for young parents and their children.

Now with the County Council elections looming, they are trying to scare people  again into worrying about there not being enough  places for their children in the Borough’s Schools  - when the facts are that Hampshire’s Conservatives are well ahead of the game and have  been planning to meet the increased demand for school places in Eastleigh that will be caused if the additional 9,700  extra houses Eastleigh Lib Dems plan to build over the next few years go ahead and attract more people and traffic from afar into our overcrowded Borough.

Even now, under their direction, County Council officers are increasing the capacity of the schools in the Borough to ensure that no child in Eastleigh will ever be without a place in our award winning schools which are acknowledged to be amongst the finest in the Country.

Perhaps when the  County Council elections are over next year and the truth is there for all to see, we will be treated to the  Eastleigh Lib Dem Leader  singing his apology on the Telly!

Don't Believe Everything the LibDems tell you!

In response to Liberal Democrat accusations, it is necessary to put the record straight.

Schools

Councillor Roy Perry says "Every child in Hampshire was offered a school place at the beginning of this term - well over 95% in a school of one of their 3 choices and almost 90% in their first preference.

 "There is no crisis, no shambles but there is a marked increase in the birth rate, and people moving into the area which is certainly increasing the pressure on school places.  Measures are in hand to increase school building over the next fifteen years so that there will continue to be no shortfall."

Police

Hampshire Police Authority state that there will be no reduction in front-line police officers.  Savings will be made by cutting bureaucracy.

Libraries

Regarding libraries, out of the 54 in the county, there will be no change in 17 of them and only an average reduction of 2.5 hours in the rest.  Two libraries will be run by the community because of a drastic decline in their usage over the last 5 years, North Baddesley by 33% and Stanmore by 50%.  The latter is used by only 3% of the population.

Buses

Bus services have been hit due to a 33% cut in the subsidy from central government, but council chiefs say they have made journeys to work, the shops and hospitals a priority. Council bosses have promised that no village or housing estate with a current bus service will be left without a public transport link.”
Despite LibDem claims to the contrary bus passes for the over sixties will NOT be affected.

Child Centres

4Children vision:

“for every child, in every community, to have the opportunities to realise their  potential – to learn, develop and be with friends – and for every parent to access the support they need to build a better future for their family”

This is what Hampshire County Council says:

We want to make sure that the funding cuts have as little effect as possible on the work children’s centres do with families, particularly those who need the services the most. The changes we are thinking of making would keep centres open and available for families everywhere to use.

To achieve this, we are proposing an approach that would:

·               Keep children’s centres open and accessible across the whole of Hampshire.

·               Take half of the savings out of the County Council’s central costs of running the children’s centre service.

·               As far as possible, protect staff who deliver children’s centre services directly to families - so that people who use the centres are affected as little as possible.

·               Keep enough managers across the centres to understand the needs of local families and to organise and supervise activities.

·               Reduce the costs of running the centres, for example allocating less money for travel and equipment. 

This is what Councillor Roy Perry said:

Commenting on the range of bids Councillor Roy Perry, Hampshire County Council's Deputy Leader and Executive Lead Member for Children's Services, said:

"I am delighted at the levels of response to the tendering process. We have had 17 bids involving at least 32 organisations with all clusters attracting more than one bidder.

"We have had significant interest from a range of local and national voluntary organisations and schools following the invitation to tender for the management contracts of up to 15 clusters of children centres. The centres will continue to deliver services through over 81 local centres and a variety of community-based venues."

In May the County Council approved the transfer of all its Children's Centres to third party management in a bid to secure the long-term future of Children's Centre services across the county and achieve savings in the wake of cuts in Government funding.

So don't believe the scaremongers!  The children's centres are safe.

A Better Town Centre??

That remains to be seen.  Fortunately, Sainsbury's have withdrawn their plans for extending their store so at least the Rec and market are safe. 

But are the LibDems still intending to go ahead with their disastrous plans to move the civic offices into the town centre?  To this, with virtually no parking space and thus inaccessible not only to staff but also to those who need to visit the council offices

 From here

at a cost of £12 million.  They say they'll recover £4 million by the redevelopment of the existing site.

Now that Sainsbury's have decided not to go ahead with their development, there is going to be a serious shortfall in parking for the proposed new council offices.